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driver who hit someone, the resulting return of her speech occurred offers to heal the wound on his own or to bring in an unpaid doctor. #
at the moment of impact, while in the case of the water tank, the fire This implies that the beis din will nullify this claim even without the
was only extinguished later, after the water began to flow down from damaged party arguing against it.
the broken tank.] In conclusion, we have seen that the Rambam and Tur do not dis-
It says in maseches Bava Kamma 55b: If one makes a hole in the regard the claim of the damaged party that the person who damaged
fence enclosing one’s fellowman’s animal and the animal escapes them “appears like an ambushing lion,” but rather they make use of a
through the hole in the fence and runs away, he is exempt by a human more inclusive claim on which to base the halacha (i.e. the fact that “a
court but held accountable by the Heavenly Court, as is the law for physician who heals for nothing is worth nothing.”)
someone who caused indirect damage. The Gemara explains that the Similarly, the Rashash’s explanation of “a physician from far away
case concerns a wobbly fence or wall which was on the verge of col- has eyes that are blind” is limited only to a case where the patient is
lapsing anyway. The Meiri comments (s.v. haporetz gader): “It seems normally intelligent. He explains that such a patient is anguished by
to me that since his intention was to do harm and not a mitzvah, he is the fact that he will need to wait a long time for a physician from afar
held accountable by Heaven.” to heal him. If the injured party were a minor or a shoteh, who cannot
We can say that the Meiri is referring to a wall that is due to be feel worry or yearning, the reasoning would not apply. Therefore,
demolished but is not about to collapse at this moment. Thus, for Rashi and the Rosh reject this explanation of the Rashash.
the moment it is still fencing in the animals and the person’s actions Instead, the Rosh and Rashi bring a broader and more inclusive
did damage. This is different from the case of the fire, which must explanation. They explain that a physician who comes from far away 20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 3 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:29:01 | SR:-- | Magenta #20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 3 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:29:01 | SR:-- | Yellow 20
be extinguished immediately, and the breaking of the water tank is is not concerned about his reputation, and his work will not be ade-
absolutely necessary; any owner of that water tank would have done quate. Even if the patient will not claim this, the beis din must claim
the same. it for him.
Note that the third halachah, that a physician from far away has
blind eyes, is omitted completely by the Rambam. The Lechem Mish-
neh wonders about that omission. One can answer that the Rambam
defines the words “a physician from far away has blind eyes” like the
4. A Caesarean section that saved the Meiri - that a physician from afar “blinds” and deceives the world
mother’s life but injured her unnecessarily into thinking that he is an expert when in fact he is not an expert at
all. The Rambam hints at this and does not omit this halachah, as he
1 Question writes in his own words: “but bring in an expert physician.” His intent
here is that one must examine the credentials of the physician very
A physician performed a Caesarean section on a woman during a dif- carefully to determine if the physician is really an expert. Therefore,
ficult labor and saved her life. Due to his carelessness, she was injured if he is from far away and it is not clear that he is an expert physician,
during the surgery. Is he obligated to pay for the damage? Perhaps, the beis din should not accept him.
since there was no other physician available and without the surgery Now, we can rule on our case.
she would have died, he is exempt, especially since the benefits far The halachah is that the person who caused damage cannot pur-
outweighed the damages? port to heal it, since the patient must be at peace with his doctor. If
82 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Who should repair the damage? 2 67
